Smile For Me
by remembertheginger
Summary: Just a quick one-shot about two of my OCs, Nathan and Sarai. How they met and ended up getting together.


**A/N: These are all OCs of mine, for reference. Here, have some history. Kyle, a son of Apollo, is Nathan's best friend. Kyle is currently dating Maia (a daughter of Ares who isn't mentioned here), but at one point, he was dating Jade, a daughter of Aphrodite (also a charmspeaker). This little one-shot is set in that short time when Kyle was dating Jade. Before Nathan has ever met Sarai.  
OH! RIGHT! This is the story of how Nathan and Sarai meet/end up dating. Because they are a freaking adorkable couple. A note about the last line of the story: it's something Sarai said to Nathan when she was drawing him, but it's also what she was thinking right there too. Hope you enjoy!  
All OCs mentioned above are mine. And Anisa (daughter of Hermes) too, who'll show up a bit later.  
**  
It was complicated, knowing all the people Jade did. Especially when she saw a potential couple that _hadn't even met each other yet._ This was the case with her good friend, Sarai Lafayette, the only child of Techne at Camp Half-Blood. Her and Kyle's best friend, Nathan Rivera. He was rather quiet and neutral about everything, but Jade had a feeling that meeting Sarai might change that. Her artistic, slightly awkward friend had a way about her that made people like him smile.  
"Sarai," Jade announced one day. "There's someone you ought to meet." She had towed along her friend, dragging her away from her cabin with sketchbook in hand. Sarai had finally agreed to go with dignity, _if_ Jade let her bring her sketchbook too.  
"Oh, what the hell," Jade had shrugged. "Maybe he'll want to look at your drawings."  
This had perked Sarai up. "He? Who's this 'he' I hear of?"  
"Come and find out," Jade smirked.  
Now, all they had to do was wait for Kyle to show up. Sure enough, he was literally dragging Nathan by the scruff of his shirt. Nathan straightened up when he saw the two girls and elbowed his friend before walking towards them without Kyle's persuasion.  
"Nathan, this is Sarai Lafayette. She's a daughter of Techne," Jade introduced Sarai, who was staring at Nathan in a thoughtful manner. Staring being the operative word.  
"Sarai, meet Nathan Rivera," Kyle's voice seemed to cut through her reverie. "He's the only son of Disdain at Camp."  
To Jade's slight horror, Sarai walked closer to Nathan and ran a hand through his hair, examining it with a frown. "You weren't originally this blond, were you?" She asked matter-of-factly.  
Nathan, however, didn't seem to mind. "Nope. Hair got lighter over the years from sun exposure." He answered coolly.  
The amber-eyed girl nodded, satisfied. "That makes sense." She tilted her head slightly and looked at him in that strange way again- staring thoughtfully. Analyzing, almost. "You'd make for an interesting picture," she finally concluded. "Would you mind if I drew you?"  
"Sure," Nathan shrugged, though Jade could hear the tone of his voice was mildly perplexed. "Do you need me to stay, or-?"  
"Meet me in the pavilion in five minutes," Sarai nodded. "I need to go grab my pencils." With that, she darted off to her cabin, leaving an amused Jade, a nonchalant Kyle, and a slightly confused Nathan.  
"Do either of you know what that was?" Nathan questioned the couple.  
Kyle grinned. "I think that's Sarai's version of a date."  
This made Nathan's eyes widen, so Jade shook her head no reassuringly. "Relax, Nathan. Sarai asking to draw you just means that she appreciates the way your face fits together. Yes, that is what she's told me," Jade couldn't help but laugh a bit.  
The son of Disdain nodded, composed once more. "Well, off to the pavilion, I suppose." He put his hands in the pockets of his jeans and began to walk back to his cabin. "Wrong way!" Kyle called helpfully, and Nathan turned around. "I knew that," he shouted back, heading quickly past them and towards the direction the pavilion actually was.  
"Sometimes I forget he's only been here a week," Kyle mused out loud. "He likes her, doesn't he?"  
Jade nodded, a smile creeping onto her face. "Yeah, I think he does."

**Two weeks later**

"Sarai's a bit blind, isn't she?" Anisa asked Jade with a smile, watching Nathan and Sarai chatting together by Peleus. "It's so obvious that he likes her."  
"Just a bit," Jade agreed. "Ah, but don't worry. Love will prevail, sooner or later."  
Anisa grinned as Sarai jumped up and sprinted towards them. "It looks like sooner," she observed, seeing the huge smile on Sarai's face. "You look happy," Anisa couldn't stifle a laugh.  
Sarai beamed. "Gods, yes! Nathan asked me out!" With that proclamation, she raced back to Nathan, who full-out kissed her.  
The whole thing had gone something like this. Sarai, bored out of her mind, had decided to give herself a challenge and draw Peleus in full detail. Nathan came across her about a half-hour into the drawing and simply sat to watch her; she didn't even notice him until she set her sketchbook down to give her poor fingers a break. The outside of her right pinky was totally black, covered in graphite from her pencil, as this was a black-and-white picture.  
"Oh, hello," Sarai had blinked, startled to see him sitting next to her. "How long have you been there?"  
"Not totally sure," Nathan admitted. "Probably about twenty minutes." He ruffled his hair unconsciously, a gesture Sarai knew by now meant that he was nervous.  
Sarai smiled awkwardly. "Sorry to keep you waiting. You should've said something, I would've stopped."  
Nathan's smile was kind. "Nah, I like watching you draw." His brown eyes sparkled in the shade of Thalia's tree- they really were pretty, weren't they? A rich, milk-chocolatey brown, that sometimes turned a muddy grayish brown when he was thinking. And the thing was, the grayish brown didn't sound all that pleasant, but it was rather beautiful too, in the way that a dusty path during a rainstorm might be. It took a special, artistic kind of looking to appreciate it.  
"Hm?" Sarai blinked as she realized Nathan had been talking to her. "Sorry, what did you say? I wasn't... um... listening," she could feel a slight blush on her cheeks as she said the last part. Unfortunately, she didn't listen more than she would have liked to, but at least it meant she no longer blushed furiously whenever she called herself out.  
"Glad you weren't, actually," Nathan smiled sheepishly. He was smiling a lot, wasn't he? "Kind of just a ramble. What I meant to say is, will you go out with me?"  
It took a moment for the words to process. "M-me?" Sarai stammered, surprised. "You want _me_ to go out with _you_?"  
Nathan's face fell. "It was just a thought," he mumbled, looking down at the ground in dismay.  
"I would love to," Sarai could feel a huge grin breaking over her face. "I just wasn't sure that I heard you right. I mean, you could do so much better than me." Try as she might, she simply couldn't wipe the beaming smile off her face; but that was okay, she wasn't exactly sure she wanted to.  
When Nathan glanced up, he was laughing. "That's exactly what I was thinking about you. I'm sure that other people have asked you before, but I was hoping that you would at least try dating me, if only for a little bit."  
"They haven't, actually," Sarai shrugged. Then her face brightened. "I'll be right back," she promised as she made a break for Anisa and Jade.  
_Smile for me, Nathan. No one's looking._


End file.
